News
Movies | Written by Andrew Pollard 18/02/2016

Kurt Russell Joins GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2

Remember those rumours that Kurt Russell could wind up playing Star-Lord’s pops in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2? Yep, those rumours that we were all crossing our fingers and toes for in the hope that they’d prove true. In fact, Russell himself had even confirmed that he'd been approached, but that he’d also not actually seen the first film and so was reserving judgement for now. Well, Kurt and his legendary chin are now officially on board for Guardians 2 as the film’s cast has been revealed after principal photography started yesterday on James Gunn’s sequel.

Whilst there's no confirmation that Russell will be playing the father of Chris Pratt's Peter Quill, the official press release on all things Guardians 2 reads as below:

Marvel Studios has begun principal photography at Pinewood Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, which is slated to hit U.S. theaters on May 5, 2017. The production will shoot at Atlanta’s Pinewood Studios.

The film is written and directed by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither). The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 cast includes the return of the original Guardians, including Chris Pratt (Jurassic World, Guardians of the Galaxy) as Peter Quill/Star-Lord; Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy, Star Trek Into Darkness) as Gamora; Dave Bautista (SPECTRE, Guardians of the Galaxy) as Drax; Vin Diesel (Guardians of the Galaxy, Furious 7) as the voice of Groot; Bradley Cooper (Joy, American Sniper) as the voice of Rocket; Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy, Jumper) as Yondu; Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Big Short) as Nebula; and Sean Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy, “Gilmore Girls”) as Kraglin. New cast members include Pom Klementieff (Oldboy), who plays Mantis, Elizabeth Debicki (The Great Gatsby, Everest), Chris Sullivan (“The Knick,” The Drop) and Kurt Russell (The Hateful Eight, Furious 7).

Set to the all-new sonic backdrop of Awesome Mixtape #2, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the team’s adventures as they unravel the mystery of Peter Quill’s true parentage.

The original Guardians of the Galaxy was a hit with critics and audiences alike, earning over $770 million at the worldwide box-office, and holds the record as the most successful debut film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition, the film’s soundtrack went platinum and was nominated for a Grammy.

Based on the Marvel comic characters first published in 1969, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 continues the lineage of epic big-screen adventures chronicled in Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, and the upcoming release schedule, which includes Captain America: Civil War on May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange, November 4, 2016; Spider-Man, July 7, 2017; and Thor: Ragnarok on November 3, 2017.

Marvel Studios continued its unprecedented success in 2015 with the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. At the time of release, the film recorded the second-biggest opening weekend of all time with a $191.3 million box office. It has also been the #1 release in every country where it has opened and has grossed over $1.4 billion in global box office. The studio also successfully launched another franchise with Ant-Man, starring Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas and Evangeline Lilly. The film opened #1 at the box office on July 17 and went on to gross more than $519 million at the worldwide box office. The film propelled the Marvel brands’ #1 domestic box-office opening streak to a record-breaking 12 consecutive films.